We’ve tried many different foods with our dogs, and preparing them a homemade meal is just so satisfying! It is so rewarding seeing the ingredients come together, knowing it’s good for them and watching them enjoy every bite. You can also vastly improve the health and wellbeing of your dog by feeding a balanced, homemade meal. Dr. Harvey’s base mixes are a wonderful option for those wanting to feed a homemade diet without having to worry about nutritionally balancing each meal.

Why Feed a Homemade Diet

A homemade meal for Kai made with Dr. Harvey’s Raw Vibrance base mix.

Homemade meals are a great option for dogs with allergies or other health issues. Unlike kibble, you can control most, if not all, of the ingredients that go into their meals. If your dog is allergic to chicken, you can prepare meals with other proteins like beef or pork. It’s also very easy to rotate between proteins to help prevent intolerances to certain meats.

It’s also a great option for picky dogs! Would you want to eat the same thing every day for the rest of your life? Probably not. You can still balance homemade meals while adding variety and find ways to entice even the pickiest of eaters.

Lastly, kibble is highly processed. The ingredients are cooked at high temperatures in order to kill bacteria, neutralizing a lot of the natural vitamins and minerals in the process. To compensate for this, most kibble companies add in synthetic vitamins and minerals. There’s some controversy over feeding synthetic ingredients long term, and you can help combat this by rotating in whole, real foods into your dog’s diet regularly.

Balancing Homemade Meals

The most common mistake when feeding a homemade meal is not properly balancing them. Nutritional deficiencies can lead to malnutrition that is ultimately worst than feeding your dog a low quality kibble. It’s incredibly important to make sure your dog is getting all of the essential nutrients they need when you prepare their meals. Thankfully, Dr. Harvey’s base mixes make it incredibly easy to feed a balanced homemade meal - whether you’re using raw or cooked meat.

Base Mixes

Our foster puppy, Hazel, in 2021 posing with a bag of Paradigm base mix.

We rotate between three base mixes made by Dr. Harvey’s: Raw Vibrance, Paradigm and Canine Health. All three contain real, whole foods that take the guesswork out of feeding a balanced homemade diet. You simply rehydrate the base mix, add meat and oil, and you have a delicious homemade meal.

Ingredients

What we love most about Dr. Harvey’s is their dedication to healthy, wholesome ingredients. They use many ingredients that are known to be superfoods to dogs, including raw goats milk, green lipped mussels, shiitake mushrooms, pumpkin, ginger, turmeric and more! Every time I prepare a meal using these base mixes, I know they’re getting a huge nutrient boost!

Miracle Food

Dr. Harvey’s is also seen as a miracle food to many dog owners because it’s well known for helping dogs with severe health issues. Two years ago we fostered a puppy with megaesophagus named Hazel who couldn’t even keep softened kibble down and struggled to gain weight. We started her on a raw diet using Paradigm base mix, and she quickly began to gain weight and thrive. Because we could easily control the consistency, she was able to keep it down without regurgitating, and I knew she was getting a huge nutritional boost from the ingredients.

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A raw meal made for our foster puppy that includes Paradigm, kefir and cottage cheese.

How to Prepare

The process for all three base mixes is quite easy:

Use their Feeding Guideline and pour the appropriate amount of base mix into your dog’s bowl.
Rehydrate with hot water. Tip: For Paradigm and Raw Vibrance, the hotter the water, the better it tends to absorb into the base mix.
Let sit for 8 minutes.
Add your choice of raw or cooked boneless protein. (see tips below for sourcing affordable meat)
Add your choice of oil - I recommend Dr. Harvey’s own Health & Shine Fish Oil.

PRICE

The price of these base mixes are relatively high, but worth it to know your dog is getting a nutritious, balanced homemade meal. On their website, Dr. Harvey’s actually includes a very detailed cost analysis based on your dog’s weight. See below for a monthly cost estimate by base mix. This includes the cost of fish oil and protein, assuming your meat is $5/lb. If you’re able to find cheaper meat, your price will go down. Visit the base mix product page and click Estimate Cost Per Day for a more detailed cost breakdown for your dog.

Total monthly cost of feeding Dr. Harvey’s base mixes, including the cost of protein and oil

Sourcing Affordable Raw Meat

The protein is often one of the most expensive parts of feeding a homemade diet. If you can find affordable (and sustainable) meat, then that will decrease the price significantly. We feed our dogs are raw diet, so that’s the focus for this blog, but their base mixes can also be prepared with cooked meat. It’s important to note that their base mixes DO contain bone meal and crushed eggshells for calcium, so you should be feeding it with a boneless protein and/or organs.

Below I’m including a chart to some of the more affordable boneless meats that is available to purchase online. You should also check local butchers, hunters, grocery stores, etc near you to see if you can find better deals locally! If you know of any other sources for boneless meat grinds that can be purchased, please comment below! You can also check out this blog post by That Mutt that lists raw feeding co-ops by state to see if there are other options near you.

Most affordable price/lb meat that I’ve found that you can purchase directly online as of July 2023

Kai posing with a bag of Raw Vibrance base mix by Dr. Harvey’s.

Review Summary

Preparing a homemade meal with Dr. Harvey’s base mixes is SO easy! I love that they use whole food ingredients and superfoods so I know my dogs are getting the best nutrition. There’s also something incredible satisfying about being able to see each individual ingredient, watching the meal come together and seeing our dogs enjoy their healthy meals! While it is an expensive food, it takes the guesswork out of balancing meals, so you can simply prepare and feed!

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Other Products by Dr. Harvey’s

We’ve been a huge fan of Dr. Harvey’s for years due to the confidence we have in the amazing ingredients they use. Many many people have talked about how Dr. Harvey’s has tremendously helped their sick dogs and even dogs with cancer, which tells a lot about the nutrient packed foods and supplements they offer. We’ve tried almost all of their products, and highly recommend them to all of our friends and family.

Some of our other favorite products by them are:

Hip & Joint Soft Chews - All of the ingredients you want to see in a hip & joint chew, including glucosamine, MSM, Chondroitin Sulfate, White Turmeric Root, Green Lipped Mussel, Ginger, Yucca and Eggshell Membrane. Highly recommend this product to anyone looking for a solid hip & joint supplement. You can feed as is, or crumble into their food if you have a picky eater.
Digestive Probiotics Soft Chews - Great probiotic blend of ingredients that promote a healthy gut and solid stools.
Solaris - Powerful blend of organic mushrooms and herbs to help promote your dog’s cellular and immune system health!
Runs Be Done - Another wonderful digestive supplement to help firm up stools and promote a healthy gut - the main ingredient is pumpkin.
Golden Years / Formative Years / Multi-Vitamin and Mineral Supplement - All of three of these products are wonderful daily supplements you can give to your dogs. Golden Years is for senior dogs, Formative Years is for puppies, and the Multi-Vitamin is a great supplement for adult dogs.
Relax - Great supplement with ingredients that promote calming and relaxation.
Chicken Hearts - One of our favorite all-time treats - freeze-dried chicken hearts. The dogs go crazy for them. They make a great food topper or treat!
Herbal Healing Cream - A great cream to help rehydrate your dog’s nose and/or paws. It’s also a powerful first aid cream that soothes itchy skin and promotes healing. We’ve been rubbing it on Phoenix’s ears when they itch, and it provides nearly immediate relief.
Sweet Potate’r Chews - Single ingredient and healthy dog chews made of dehydrated sweet potatoes that our dogs love.

Preparing a Homemade Meal for Your Dog with Dr. Harvey's